Johnson Says Ankle Feels Pretty Good, Believes He Is Same Player He Has Always Been
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Over the last two games, Detroit Lions star Calvin Johnson has snagged only nine of the 22 passes thrown his way. All those targets translated to 59 receiving yards against Arizona and 58 against New England.
Johnson's relative lack of production the last two games has surprised many, but he declined to blame the drop in his numbers on the ankle injury that sidelined him for three games earlier in the year and limited him in two others. He said his ankle feels pretty good.
Lions head coach Jim Caldwell also refused to focus on the injury.
"The biggest thing you can just kind of take a look at is, does he still run by people? The answer to that would be yes. Is he still able to lay out and catch the ball and things that he normally does? Yes," Caldwell said Tuesday. "I think that's what matters.
"Every week's a little different," Caldwell added. "Last week was one of those weeks, too, they double-covered him quite a bit. If you take a look at the film you'd see obviously they roll the coverage back to his side, gave him a couple different looks, dropped guys underneath his window, things of that nature. Sometimes that'll happen."
Johnson said he is still the same guy he was a few years ago, the one who consistently dominated the opposition. He laughed off the notion, however, that he used to make it look easy.
"It's never easy," Johnson said with a smile. "It's always tough to make a big game or to have a big game. It takes a lot of moving parts to make those things happen. It takes 11 to make all of those things happen, especially if I have a big game. It takes all of those guys on the front line, my receivers, quarterback. It takes everybody. It goes and vice versa and so on."
Stafford agreed that Johnson presents just as much of a threat to defenses as he did earlier in his career. As much as teams plan specifically to stop Johnson, however, it makes sense that the extra attention would put a damper on his production.
"Defenses obviously are keying in on him," Stafford said. "He's the best receiver in the league, and they know that, but it's on me to just throw him better balls and make sure that we're on the same page."
Johnson had knee and finger surgery after the 2013 season, and because of the ankle injury he suffered, Johnson has been fully healthy in only six of Detroit's 11 games. Caldwell dismissed the idea that Johnson's age and injuries are taking a worrisome toll, however, and Johnson said he does not think too much about his long-term health.
"I don't worry about it," Johnson said. "It's a game that has a 100 percent injury in the sport, so you're going to have some nicks and bruises here and there. You can't sit back and really worry about those things. You still have to be able to go out there try to put those things in the back of your mind and play."
